| Nursing
Partnerships: Thailand and Penn
Source: Marilyn
Stringer
Recently, myself, 2 of our lecturer faculty (Wendy Grube
and Dawn Durain) and 11 students visited Thailand to provide
an intensive educational experience studying the historical,
sociopolitical and cultural perspectives of health and care
delivery of the Thai people. Partnering with nursing faculty
and students from 3 universities (Mahidol , Thammasat and
Walailack universitites), we were able to explore public and
private health care delivery in rural and urban settings.
This multifaceted learning opportunity provided rich field
experiences for undergraduate, graduate and doctoral students.
During the field experience, each student identified an area
of special health care interest for comparison between the
United States and Thailand. These areas of interest were then
expanded into group projects between the Thai and Penn students
that provided an opportunity for students to build international
nursing relationships. Ultimately, at the completion of our
program, the students were able to present their project findings
while in Thailand.
Fortunately, we were in Thailand during a pivotal period
for Thai nursing. In order to meet the health care needs of
the Thai people, the Ministry of Health had just established
a goal to educate 10,000 nurse practitioners within the next
10 years. As the Women’s Health Care Program Director,
I was able to provide essential information on the development
and implementation of a nurse practitioner program. Myself,
along with my faculty were invited to provide in-services
for the faculty at Mahidol , Thammasat and Walailack Universities
on the education and role of nurse practitioners. During these
sessions we were able to address their issues and struggles
related to advanced practice nursing. Many of the issues discussed
were similar to experiences of advanced practice nurses in
the United States several decades ago when we expanded the
role of the baccalaureate prepared nurse. We were also invited
to met with the President of the Thai Nursing Council and
share our insights concerning advanced practice nursing.
Needless to say, we hope to continue our cross cultural
health care experience with our nursing colleagues in Thailand.
In our 3 short weeks, we were only able to scratch the surface
of health care in Thailand. We hope to continue in exploring
more collaborative educational, practice and research initiatives.
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